The Underground Forest - Volume 37
This edition of The Underground Forest features; an acapella song set against the lush sounds of nature; a song that sounds like it is from a nightclub buried deep underneath the concrete maze of a city; an electronic song that has the surreal vibe of an art-house horror movie; a song that feels like a burst of warmth and joy from the mid-00s; an multimedia piece that will make you appreciate the sheer raw beauty of this planet and more!
Featuring Maddie Regent, Ski Team, TORBA, Corey Cullinan, Magana, Red Sky July, Frog, Lucrecia Dalt & David Sylvian.
If you are an artist with an upcoming releases, and you would like to be featured in The Underground Forest, get in touch with us ❤️
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The wolf - Maddie Regent
Taken from the upcoming album On the phone with my mom; this opens with Taylor Swift levels of addictive pop songwriting; the vocals flowing like a crystalline, shimmering river; the chorus being a burst of dreamy, nostalgic wonder.
The song deals with the dread you feel when you run into someone you used to be in a relationship with; but now ye are more or less alienated from one another, on this the artist says “There’s a part of you that’s paralyzingly afraid of them,” she shares, “but you wish you didn’t have to be.”
This song was co-written and produced by Cade Hoppe, with additional production from Harper James of Eighty Ninety.
Connect with Maddie Regent
YouTube / Spotify / Instagram / Website / X
Islands - Ski Team
The acapella vocals fused with the gentle sounds of the wind will transport you to another landscape; and will lull you into a more calm, clear-minded state.
This new piece from Ski Team (with production from Daniel Knowles (Sharon Van Etten, Cigarettes After Sex)) has the soothing effect of a walk in nature; the song is beautifully arranged, consisting solely of acapella vocals set against a backdrop of ambient sounds - listening to this will do you good.
On the song the artist says “"I wrote "Islands" while producing "Me"—the bass sounded like crickets, and I started looping it and singing over it. The improvised melody and harmony had something so sweet and somber about it. Then we just rapid fire layered harmonies, all unplanned, just whatever I felt like singing. I think that improvised spirit of listening and just doing what feels right—whatever comes out—is what makes this song so special. There was very little planning and designing it. I just sang a song from the soul into the mic, and you can feel that."
Connect with Ski Team
YouTube / Spotify / Instagram
LIES - TORBA
Taken from the debut album 'II'; this song from Darkwave producer Torba will blast you off your seat and into a subterranean night club from a science fiction world.
The bassline in this is truly all-consuming; distant distorted vocals echo in the distance with iron-like pads rising and rising; this is one to fully lose yourself to.
Connect with TORBA
Spotify / Instagram / Bandcamp
Footprint - Cory Cullinan
Allow yourself ten minutes, uninterrupted, to fully take in and absorb this multimedia piece from musician, composer, and teacher Cory Cullinan; featuring the directorial and editorial talents of Sidney Cullinan.
The ambient sounds are lush, shimmering, and alive (the recording and mixing on this makes for a fully immersive listening experience), reminding you of the sheer amount of life and biodiversity that exists on this wonderful planet.
This will make you happy to be alive.
Connect with Cory Cullinan
YouTube / Apple Music / Instagram / Website / Spotify
Shower Song - Magana
This has the cozy intimacy of a book with an entrancing first-person narrative; one where you feel like you are right there with the narrator in their sitting room.
The acapella vocals that open the song feel like they are floating to your ears from the shower; although the song does have a cozy vibe to it, there is a certain bleakness that comes through in the lyrics, the specific kind of bleakness experienced in winter, which is a testament to the sheer level of skill Magana possesses as a songwriter “So here I am, standing in the shower again/Thinking about things I can’t change/When life gets old and the water here is getting cold /That’s how I know we’ve done the wrong things”.
Connect with Magana
Bandcamp / YouTube / Spotify / Instagram / X
Stars Turn Cold - Red Sky July
The newest song from the trio Red Sky July is an absolutely divine blend of folk and Americana; with a cosmic twist running throughout.
This will make you feel like you are outside, looking up at the wonders of the night sky, thinking about life. On the song, Shelly says “Stars Turn Cold’ was the first song that arrived to us for the Misty Morning album, and from this song we wrote outwards to find brothers and sisters for her. We knew this song was the centre point for the new album instrumentation wise and tone wise and this is why the whole album exists. The song was written quickly in the lounge of our home on an acoustic guitar, I hummed the first melody that came to mind and that is where it stayed. She was an easy one.”
Connect with Red Sky July
YouTube / Spotify / Instagram / Website / X
JUST USE YR HIPS VAR. V1 - Frog
Taken from the upcoming album 1000 Variations on the Same Song (which is due for release on Valentine's day); this is just a blast of pure joy, one that is well-needed in what has seemed to be one of the longest and coldest January in existence.
There is something about Frog's music that makes me associate it with what I consider to be the peak of internet music discovery (the early to mid-2010s) where you would stumble across a song that filled your life with a warm glow.
Connect with Frog
Bandcamp / YouTube / Spotify / Instagram / Website / Facebook / X
cosa rara - Lucrecia Dalt, David Sylvian
This was another Bandcamp discovery, and it is mesmerizing. The percussion is entrancing; with shimmering, eerie sound effects bursting in and out, and flickering at the edges of your ears, creating a horror movie adjacent atmosphere.
Dive in, and be swallowed up by the wonderful darkness.
Connect with Lucrecia Dalt
Bandcamp / YouTube / Spotify / Instagram / Website
Connect with David Sylvian
Website
Spotify Playlist
About Eimear O Sullivan
Eimear Ann O Sullivan is a multi-genre music producer, audio engineer and vocalist. After receiving a Masters in Music Technology from the CIT Cork School of Music, she went on to operate as a producer under the name Blakkheart. Her releases have received critical acclaim from Ireland's biggest music publications, such as District Magazine and Nialler9, alongside receiving heavy commercial radio airplay. She currently works in Cork recording studio Flashpoint CC. Previous clients of hers include the likes of Comedy Central’s Dragony Aunt star Candy Warhol, rapper Darce and Outsider YP. (Photo credit @Fabian Boros)
Contact Eimear O Sullivan at eimear.o.sullivan@musicngear.com
In this blog section we host new music releases, artist features and handpicked playlists by the Musicngear staff.
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